Q1. Why did you decide to name your brand “Mame Kurogouchi” instead of using your own name?

Mame, as in “bean,” (in Japanese), was my nickname as a student. On the first day of fashion school, this gorgeous boy who later became one of my best friends came sauntering over and said, “You’re small and round, like a mame. That’s your new nickname.” The brand is like a second self, something that I want to grow along with me. In that sense, my old nickname was the perfect choice. “Mame” has other meanings in Japanese too, though, like “diligent” and “hardworking,” which I think is a fitting reference to our brand’s approach to craft.

Q2. You’ve said that you draw inspiration from the landscape here in Nagano, where you grew up. What specifically inspires you?

It could be something as grand as a dynamic landscape, or as banal as a stone left on the side of the road. It can take a while for these things to show up in ideas, but I make a point of taking photographs and notes when something interesting crosses my path. The latest collection, for example, references the fluorescent tape tied around trees on mountain trails to mark the way.

Q3. For the past year and a half, you’ve been dividing your time between Nagano and Tokyo. Why is that?

I hadn’t really planned on setting up a studio outside of Tokyo, but in scouting locations for the Spring/Summer 2021 collection, the theme of which was “windows,” we found this incredible house. It turned out that an elderly lady was living there alone, and the studio of her late husband was on the property. She had left it as it was, in his memory, but she and I made a connection, and she decided to let me rent it out. We fixed it up a bit, but rather than striving for convenience, we tried to make it feel the way it used to feel, in her memory, by referencing old diagrams and other materials. It’s a totally white space, surrounded by glass, with nothing but a table in the middle. Sometimes I come every week, sometimes once every couple of months, but this is a place where I know that I can focus and get work done.

Q4. What made you choose Mt. Kirigamine for this photo shoot?

As part of the process for creating my 2014 collection, which centred on my grandmother’s memories, I asked her about my late grandfather and she told me about their trip to Mt. Kirigamine, so I paid it a visit. I came to realise that the landscape here is beautiful in any season. This place makes me think of my grandparents in their younger days. It’s also a place where, as an adult, I’ve done a lot of thinking about home. That’s why I chose it.

Q5. What kind of person was your grandmother?

She was a kind, humble, incredible woman. My grandparents were farmers. I’ll never lose the image of them going out into the fields, regardless of how bad the weather was. I helped out on the farm as a kid. It was my grandparents who taught me that making things takes time. What I learned from watching them work, really closely, forms the basis of how I view clothing design.

Q6. Which of the four seasons do you like best?

Winter, I suppose. I find the orange of the westering sun so beautiful, and what could be more luxurious than watching the cold landscape from a warm room? When I look back on childhood, I see transparent textures like snow and ice everywhere around me. They’ve shown up in my designs since the debut collection, in the form of glossy PVC bags and clothes.

Q7. What kind of kid were you? What was your best subject in elementary school?

The anime Sailor Moon was popular at school. I wanted a Moon Stick, like Sailor Moon has, but I couldn’t wait until my birthday or Christmas. So I cut up empty candy boxes and made my own. I was really into crafts. I’ve also always loved to write, so language was a favourite subject for me.

Q8. You’ve given many of your items Japanese names like OHINERI and SHIBORI. What do you think is the most beautiful Japanese word?

Some kind of onomatopoeia. Tsuya tsuya, kira kira, suru suru. I love the way these words can evoke feelings and sensations. You can translate “tsuya tsuya” into English as “shiny,” but some of the magic is lost. It’s wonderful how language can convey textures and sensations.

Q9. 2018 marked your debut at Paris Fashion Week, followed by your first runway show the year after that. What’s changed since then?

I found that lots of things that were conveyed intuitively in Japan got lost once there was a language barrier. Take OHINERI for example, which becomes a lot more interesting in the context of Japanese wrapping customs. I’ve realised that I don’t just want to make clothes, I want to go deeper and convey culture and feeling. This has been instrumental to the growth of the brand.

Q10. Since founding the brand, you’ve made a point of using traditional Japanese techniques. Why is that?

In my previous job, I was lucky to visit lots of factories and artisans, but over the course of a few years I also saw many of them disappear. That made me want to work with them on making things, before it was too late. These days, it’s become a challenge to have something “Made on Earth,” let alone “Made in Japan,” which makes it more valuable than ever to cultivate connections with makers.